True Love Is
by Renaerys
Summary: A study of love, hate, and the fine line in between them. Crack ships and pairings less threatening. Something for everyone. Pairings indicated in chapter titles.
1. ShikaIno

True Love Is...  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
Rating: K through T, depending  
World: Various

**Story notes: **This series is a collection of unrelated ficlets and one-shots about love, hate, and everything in between. The pairing changes with every chapter, so ideally there should be something everyone can enjoy by the end of it. I take pairing requests and upload the chapters Tumblr, but I'll update the content here sometime after the original posting. If you decide to request a pairing, please only do so through Tumblr. The rules of submission are posted in my Tumblr blog. Links can all be found in my profile here. Lastly, this fic doesn't take away any writing time from my other stuff. By the time I post anything here, it's already been on Tumblr for weeks. Enjoy!

* * *

"True love is quitting because she asks him to."

Pairing: ShikaIno

Comments: I posted this originally for Shikamaru's and Ino's birthdays.

* * *

The first time Yuuhi Kurenai witnessed Shikamaru lighting up a cigarette, she immediately lost track of what she'd been saying as a cloak of sadness hung around her. He didn't look at her as he popped open the lighter—_his lighter—_and roasted the end of the cigarette until it caught flame. Crimson eyes watched, entranced, as the first inhale made the tiny embers flare with life. Then came the smoke, pale and wraithlike, curling toward the heavens as Shikamaru leaned his head against the wall.

"You know, smoking's bad for you," she commented.

He took another long drag of the cigarette, making a face as the smoke swirled around his lungs before escaping in translucent white ribbons. He hid it well, but she could tell he was forcing himself not to cough.

"I know," he said, voice a bit raspy.

Kurenai brought a hand to her swollen belly. Second hand smoke was bad for the baby, she knew. That fact alone kept her from marching right up to the boy and yanking the cigarette from his mouth.

"It doesn't suit you," she said instead.

Shikamaru continued to watch the sky as he inhaled again. There were no clouds today, and still his eyes searched for something.

"I know," he said.

Not for the first time since they'd told her what happened, Kurenai wished that it had been her instead of Asuma.

* * *

It started the night after they took their revenge. Ino was a wreck, the anger that fueled her up until this point suddenly gone, with nothing there to take its place. Why? They got what they wanted. They achieved what they'd set out to accomplish and no one got hurt. Why couldn't they be satisfied with this?

He wasn't coming back.

No matter what, he was never coming back.

Chouji was typically broken hearted, in a way that was normal and expected when a loved one is lost. Ino felt only emptiness after all the rage, at herself for not being able to save Asuma and at Hidan and Kakuzu for shattering this precious sanctuary. And Shikamaru, well, he was the worst of them.

She'd known him all their lives, longer even than she'd known Chouji. They'd always been close, but never like he was with Chouji. She could never be The Best Friend or The Right-Hand Man. She was always both near and far from Shikamaru, but it was okay. There were things he only shared with her, never with anyone else. Ino didn't require long winded explanations or details like Chouji did.

When he showed up at her window that night with death in his eyes, she didn't need an explanation then either. She just opened the window and admitted him. His hair was damp, she remembered. It had been storming that night. It was enough to mask the smell of tobacco on him, but she didn't say anything about it.

He just stood there, unseeing and immovable, dripping rainwater on her carpet. Wordlessly, Ino guided him to her bed where she sat him down. Carefully, as though he might shatter should she make any sudden moves, she peeled his wet clothing away. First came the Chuunin flak vest, which fell to the floor with a sopping _squelch. _Next were his sandals, then the long-sleeved shirt and mesh undergarment. All the while, he just sat there in silence. Ino retrieved a towel from her bathroom to dry him off.

After his stony front, she was surprised to feel his hand grasp her wrist as she tried to get him dry. "Stop," he commanded. "Just stop."

Tired blue eyes stared down at him. His voice was so soft and exhausted that she would have pegged him for a man ten years older than he was if she didn't know him. She thought her heart couldn't take anymore, not after what they'd been through with Hidan and Kakuzu that day, but looking at him now made her fall to pieces all over again. Sinking down beside him, Ino guided him into a prostrate position on the bed, their faces only inches apart.

"You're supposed to be the strong one," she said.

She wanted to cry so badly, but she'd already cried enough tears to last her a lifetime. Under the soft glow of moonbeams, his dark eyes seemed kinder than they had in days. An arm found its way around her waist, tentative and childlike.

"Just for tonight," he said, voice cracking. "Please, Ino."

She lost the ability to breathe momentarily as she watched this boy squeeze his eyes closed and pull her close, tears staining her neck. This boy, who had always carried the weight of his world and hers on his shoulders, never asking for the responsibility but taking it in stride, broke down. She held him to her, wishing for strength she wasn't sure she possessed.

"For as long as you need," she said, closing her own eyes to the world.

Shikamaru cried and Ino didn't let go. They didn't sleep that night.

* * *

Over the next few months things went back to some semblance of normality. Shikamaru lead their Chuunin team as a newly minted Jounin. Kurenai's daughter, Asuka, was born and welcomed with more than love and support than any child could ever ask for. Chouji and Ino hadn't seen Shikamaru smile the way he did when he first held the little girl since before Asuma died. It gave them hope that life goes on, and there will always be something precious to hold onto.

Life without Asuma was still worth living.

But still, a dark shadow hung over the former Team 10. No matter how much time passed, Ino knew she would never forget the sight of Asuma, burned and bleeding, as Hidan cackled in his reaper's mask. When he wasn't working, Shikamaru was quieter than he used to be, and Chouji was starting to get worried. Even though things had shifted between Shikamaru and herself, Ino knew there was something wrong. It followed them like a ghost, never giving them a moment's peace.

Shikamaru had taken up smoking, much to everyone's dismay. But no one ever said anything to him about it. They knew why he'd started, and that subject was off limits.

"Hey, Shikamaru," Chouji said one day while the three of them were sharing lunch.

"Mm?" He was in the middle of chewing.

Chouji concentrated on flipping the small strips of meat over the grill, allocating equal attention to each one until they were grilled to perfection. He didn't look up when he said, "You should quit smoking."

Ino froze just before lifting a slice of bell pepper to her mouth. She felt as though someone had smacked her hard in the back and knocked the wind out of her. Shikamaru continued chewing as though nothing was amiss.

"It's disgusting," Chouji added.

Shikamaru finally put down his chopsticks and swallowed. "It's none of your business."

Blue eyes flickered between the two boys she'd grown up with as they locked gazes and stared each other down. Ino dared not speak.

"You know damn well it is," Chouji countered. "This has gone on long enough."

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, and Ino was suddenly very worried. He rarely ever got worked up about something, much less grew angry. And she could count on one hand the number of times he'd ever really fought with Chouji.

"We're not having this conversation," Shikamaru said dismissively.

Chouji snarled under his breath. "Then when. _When _are we gonna talk about this?"

Ino decided she better intervene before they both raised their voices. "Boys, calm down. This is a res—"

"No, I'm sick of this crap," Chouji interrupted her, glaring at Shikamaru. "Asuma-sensei wouldn't want to see you like this—"

Shikamaru slammed a hand on the table. Chopsticks rolled off the table and clattered to the ground. Dipping sauce sloshed in its shallow bowls. Ino gasped.

"Don't fucking say that," Shikamaru said, his tone dangerously soft. "You don't know what Asuma-sensei would want because he's _dead."_

"Shikamaru!" Ino said, shocked. He _never _spoke to Chouji or her like that.

"I know he wouldn't want you turning out like this," Chouji said. "You're wasting away. Did my best friend died that day too? 'Cause I don't see him anywhere."

Shikamaru stood up abruptly and stepped out of their booth. "Forget this."

He marched out of there before Ino could stop him.

"Let him go," Chouji said.

Ino turned to look at her friend. "This is not okay, Chouji. _He's _not okay."

"I know," he said, running a hand through unruly red hair. "None of us are. But this... I'm really worried about him."

Her expression fell. "I am too," she said, sitting back down.

"Can't we do something? I want to help him."

Ino just shook her head. What could they do?

"Can't _you _do something?" he pressed. "Ever since that day you guys got a lot closer, right?"

Ino's eyes widened. "We're not really together, Chouji. It's more like..." she trailed off. What was this? "It's complicated."

Chouji didn't do well with 'complicated'. "Whatever's going on, you have a different relationship with him than I do. Things are different now. If I can't get through to him, then you have to. Asuma-sensei wouldn't want it like this, I know he wouldn't."

Ino stared down at her half-empty plate, the leftovers already gone cold. "Yeah, I don't think he would either."

"Listen, I've got a long mission coming up. Maybe..." He sighed. "Maybe it'll help if I'm gone for a bit."

"Chouji, don't say that. Your friendship with Shikamaru's stronger than some stupid fight."

He shook his head. "I'm not good with this kind of thing. Just...promise me you'll talk to him?"

Chouji didn't get serious very often, but when he did people listened. He'd grown up so much since that fateful day. They all had, and it wasn't all for the best.

"Yeah," she said finally. "I promise."

* * *

She didn't see him for the next four days. Shikamaru had always liked having time to himself to think, and Ino wasn't about to deny him that. But it was time to broach the subject again.

"You here to scream at me again?"

She found him lounging under his favorite tree at their old training grounds. A cigarette hung limply from his mouth. Ino drew up close to him and sat down.

"No."

He released a smoky breath and turned to look at her askance.

"I'm here to get you off your lazy ass."

He grunted but made no move to stand. It was all the prompting Ino needed to grab his hand and tug.

"Not now, Ino."

Her calm quickly dissipated. "Yes, now. I'm not waiting anymore."

They locked gazes and an unspoken understanding passed between them. She was not going to leave him alone so easily. She'd promised him that night months ago, and Ino was not the type to go back on her word. He sighed threw his cigarette on the ground, snuffing it with a sandaled foot as he stood up. She didn't release his hand as she dragged him along behind her.

"Where are we going?" he asked after several minutes.

Ino rounded a corner and their intended destination came into view. "To visit Asuma-sensei."

Seeing the ominous black obelisk ahead, he tried to pull back on her hand, and Ino was forced to stop. "No."

Ino was quickly losing her patience with him. "You haven't been here once since the funeral."

"Maybe because I don't want to be here." He forcefully yanked his hand from hers.

Anger and sadness and frustration welled up within her. She wanted to scream at him after all. Didn't he realize that she and Chouji missed Asuma as much as he did? Didn't he understand that he wasn't alone in this? But the look in his eyes gave her pause.

"You're afraid," she accused. "You're afraid to face him."

"I don't need to see some stone to remember that he's dead, Ino."

"No," she agreed. "You need to see it to remember that he's still with us."

Not having expected that, Shikamaru wasn't prepared to protest when she reached for his hand again. He let her lead him to the memorial in silence.

"Sarutobi Asuma," Ino said, tracing their late teacher's name with her fingers.

The carving was rough-hewn but beautifully rendered. Tears welled in her eyes but she held them back. Asuma had always said Ino's smile could light up a room. The memory made her want to smile now.

Shikamaru was trying to light another cigarette, all but ignoring Ino and the memorial stone. The lighter sparked but the cigarette wouldn't catch, much to his annoyance. "Damn troublesome thing," he muttered.

Ino gave him no warning as she slowly reached up and closed a hand over the lighter. It popped closed with a _click, _and Shikamaru looked up at her finally. He looked lost, much like he had that first night in the storm when he sought her out. The urge to cry threatened to overwhelm her again, but she pushed it back with a shaky smile. He'd asked her to be strong in his place that night, and she'd promised she would for as long as he needed. Delicate but determined fingers plucked the unlit cigarette from between his lips and pocketed it.

"Talk to him," she said quietly. "He'll listen."

Shikamaru stared at her, unseeing, for several tense moments. He looked so uncharacteristically shaken, so unlike the strong, level-headed shinobi she knew and loved. But no one can carry the weight of the world alone forever. She squeezed his hand.

"I'm right here with you," she said, smiling. "I'm not going anywhere."

After a long moment, he turned dark eyes on the obsidian gravestone and approached their teacher's final resting place. Ino let him pull away, but she hovered just a few feet behind him in case he needed her support. With a slump of his shoulders, Shikamaru glared at Asuma's carved name. It was nearly half an hour before he said anything at all.

"I'm so mad at you," he said finally. "You've got such a beautiful family here, and you just left them."

Ino hugged herself. Shikamaru had a lot to say. Sometimes he would allude to anger or sadness when it was just the two of them shrouded in darkness and soft sheets, but he always caught himself. He never wanted to face those feelings, because it would mean letting them go. To him, they were all he had left of Asuma.

"You were supposed to be stronger than that," he went on, clenching his fists. "And you just gave up. You fucking _left them behind_."

He was starting to raise his voice a little, and Ino looked down. She didn't want to intrude on this moment, but she knew she couldn't leave Shikamaru alone right now. Not like this.

Sniffling sounds alerted her that he was crying.

"What kind of man are you? They need you, damnit! I'm not enough. I'm not her father, and I'm not what she needs."

Ino squeezed her eyes shut. She suspected that Shikamaru felt especially guilty when it came to Asuka, but he never really let on. She couldn't justify it before, but hearing him voice it aloud now made it all the more real and raw. She wanted to reach for him.

"You said the king is the next generation, but what kind of king grows up without a father?"

It was like he was waiting for an answer to his questions, some kind of divine revelation or understanding that would alleviate the burning guilt and anger. None came.

"We need you too," he said, now more softly. "Chouji and Ino... I need you too. Why did you have to die?"

Ino covered her mouth with her hands, unable to hold back her tears anymore. All this time Shikamaru put on a tough front for them, for Kurenai and Asuka, for everyone. He was the strong one, the one they could depend on, their anchor. But even he needed help sometimes, someone he could depend on. Ino would always be there to pull him up when he fell, even if Asuma no longer was.

"I'm lost," Shikamaru whispered. "I'm so lost."

She drew up beside him then and slipped her hand in his. He immediately gripped her tight, eyes closed and cheeks wet with tears. She couldn't say how long they just stood there together, remembering and wishing they could forget. The sun was beginning to set when Shikamaru finally released her hand.

"Come on," she said as he rubbed his face with a sleeve to get rid of the sticky feeling of dried tears. "Let's get some food or something."

He didn't protest as she led him away from the memorial and back to her apartment. Not a word passed between them as Ino busied herself in the kitchen throwing together whatever leftovers she had lying around. When she turned around to retrieve a spatula, Shikamaru was standing in the doorway sans flak vest. She froze.

Closing the distance to her, he gripped her upper arms in a gentle but firm hold. Dark eyes searched hers for something, but she couldn't begin to guess what it was. "Ino, I..."

She smiled sadly and raised a hand to touch his lips. "Maybe you're lost right now," she said softly. "But Chouji and I are here to pull you back when you're ready."

He lowered his head until their foreheads were touching. "I don't want to be lost anymore."

Instead of answering, she closed the distance between them with a kiss. He responded instantly, pulling her close as she walked them backwards out of the kitchen. His hands found her hair, ripping the tie out and releasing flowing blonde tresses. All thoughts of dinner were abandoned as they collapsed on her bed and drowned in each other, the world around them blissfully forgotten.

* * *

"Alright Asuka-chan, I'm going to teach you how to braid your hair, okay?" Ino said.

The small child seemed to ignore her until Ino pulled out her ponytail and let her hair down. At the sight of the bright gold cascade, Asuka immediately lit up and pulled on it with stubby fingers. Ino never let anyone play with her hair, but for this little girl she'd endure all the tangles that came with it. "Here we go, see?" she said, trying to keep the girl's attention as she attempted to weave a thick braid in her hair.

Kurenai looked on with a smile. "I don't think I've seen Asuka-chan take to anyone like she has to Ino."

Shikamaru smirked. "Yeah."

Kurenai studied the younger shinobi who would one day bear the responsibility of training her daughter. Something was different about him. "You stopped smoking."

Ino laughed suddenly when Asuka tried to yank on some of her hair, inadvertently messing up the already poorly done braid.

"I did," he said, watching them.

Kurenai looked between him and Ino playing with her daughter a few yards away. She knew something had changed between them, but having a child kept her too busy to follow such things closely. Now she wished she'd paid more attention. "Why did you stop?"

"Because she asked me to."

"You're gonna be so far ahead of all the other kunoichi when you get to the academy," Ino said. "Look at what a great job you did!"

Ino's hair was turning into a rat's nest of tangles, but Asuka clapped her hands together in glee. Looking at the younger blonde she could see it. They'd all been hit hard by Asuma's death, but it seemed that even in the wake of seemingly insurmountable tragedy, life could go on.

"He would be happy for you, Shikamaru," she said, meaning every word.

Shikamaru sighed, a small smile threatening to bloom. "I know."


	2. ItaIno

True Love Is...  
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

"True love is all in the timing."

Pairing: ItaIno

Comments: Requested by Anonymous

* * *

When Ibiki called her in for an emergency meeting at two in the morning, Ino knew something was wrong. Her mentor wouldn't call her away from her father's sick bed unless the situation was truly dire, to the point where all other options had been exhausted to no avail.

"There you are," Ibiki barked.

"What's going on?" Ino asked.

Mitarashi Anko and Aburame Shino were also present and sitting at a table over coffee. Beyond them stood a closed iron door and a one-way glass window looking into the adjoining interrogation room. Ibiki motioned for Ino to come inside, and Ino closed the door behind them.

"Yamanaka," Ibiki began. "What you're about to witness is to remain absolutely confidential, no exceptions. The Hokage wants this taken care of discreetly before a decision is made about his fate."

"Yes, sir," she said, although on the inside she was now thoroughly curious. Most interrogations were top secret, but Ibiki never got this riled unless the case was particularly hard to crack. Judging from the bags under his eyes and Anko's don't-fuck-with-me aura, it was obvious that they'd been at it for a while now to little avail.

"All right. Come with me."

Ibiki walked to the heavy iron door separating the meeting room from the interrogation room, and Ino found herself suddenly dreading whatever was on the other side. She'd done this kind of thing many times before, so why the cold feet? Hyuuga Neji was already in the room standing guard. The vision of the prisoner that greeted her in the cramped interrogation room, however, made her trepidation seem like a child's worries compared to the reality of this situation.

He was dirty and disheveled, his clothing shredded in some areas and exposing too-pale skin underneath. The uniform she would have expected to see on him was gone, leaving him clad only in nondescript black. Spindly fingers sat clasped tightly together, his wrists bound by chakra suppressing cuffs. If she looked hard enough, she could make out the heavy bruising beneath the shackles, a symptom of wearing the cuffs for too long. When she stepped into the room behind Ibiki, he didn't bother looking up. He wouldn't be able to see them through the thick blindfold, anyway.

Ino remembered thinking in that instant when she took in his visible features that she was looking at the ghost of an old friend.

"Uchiha Itachi," Ibiki said gruffly.

_Not Sasuke,_ Ino thought to herself. She felt silly for thinking this could be Sasuke even for that fleeting second. Even blindfolded, it was obvious that he wasn't the missing Rookie. Itachi's lips were cracked and slightly parted, as if he couldn't breathe in enough air to satisfy him. Ino swallowed, suddenly more wary than she'd been before his identity had been revealed. This man was supposed to be the stuff of nightmares.

"Come to try again?" he said.

It was bizarre, but he sounded almost resigned for someone who clearly hadn't given into Ibiki. Blue eyes narrowed as she stared at the side of his head. This man was a criminal, a murderer, and the reason Sasuke had defected so many years ago. And now, by some miracle, he was a prisoner of Konoha. Ino almost wanted to laugh in his face. Here sat the great Uchiha Itachi, kinslayer and tormenter, Konoha's most notorious missing nin, and he was chained up and blinded like a common thug.

_How the mighty have fallen._

"Take a seat, Yamanaka," Ibiki instructed.

Ino walked to the chair across the table from Itachi, and she didn't miss the way his hands clenched a little harder upon hearing her family name.

_He knows what's coming,_ she thought. Somehow, the thought that this might actually affect him didn't make her feel any better about having to infiltrate his mind. She slid into the seat with little sound, now directly facing Itachi.

Ibiki put a hand on her shoulder while Neji remained standing by the door, watching Itachi for any sudden movements. "Go through everything from the time of the Uchiha massacre until now," Ibiki commanded.

Ino swallowed. That was years and years of memories, she thought to herself. This would take a few weeks of work. She didn't relish the thought of depleting her chakra over and over for this at all. "It would go faster with the amplification device," she said.

"The fewer people who know about this the better," Ibiki said. "I can't afford to involve the rest of the team right now."

Ino pressed her lips together. Even though she'd been expecting as much, it didn't lift her spirits any to know that she was basically going to be doing this alone.

"You're wasting your time," Itachi said suddenly. "Surely you don't think I haven't taken measures to safeguard my memories."

There it was again, Ino thought. He sounded tired, almost bored with this, as though he was simply trying to make them see how futile this all was. Well, if he thought this would dissuade her from doing what she did best, he was sorely mistaken. This was her area of expertise, and not even the great Uchiha Itachi could resist a mindwalker forever.

"If you think some little traps can keep me out," Ino said evenly, "then you're sorely underestimating me. And they say that underestimation is a kunoichi's greatest weapon."

She stared at the blindfold, imagining scarlet eyes glaring back at her had he not been shielded from view. In that moment, Ino realized that she hated this man. He'd never done her or her family any wrong, nor would he have ever had reason to, but the fact that he was the cause of Sasuke's fall from grace and, by extension, her best friend's misery in the wake of Sasuke's defection, was reason enough. His mere existence was repulsive to her. She wished he could see the disgust on her face right now.

Itachi released a soft breath. "Very well. Do your worst."

Ino's pride flared at the blatant challenge. She'd never had a problem proving herself to others; in a largely male-dominated profession, it came with the job. If anything, she relished in the challenge. "I always do."

Nodding to Ibiki, she executed a familiar set of hand seals and initiated the mind reading technique. Leaning forward, Ino placed glowing hands over Itachi's bound ones, ignoring the urge to recoil at how cold they were.

_These hands killed Sasuke's entire family._

She pushed the thought out of her mind as her consciousness was sucked inside the mind of the elusive kinslayer. After the free falling rollercoaster sensation, Ino found her balance and looked around. She was at the entrance of a long corridor extending too far for the eye to see. On either side of the narrow space sat doors, all closed, and each with a date engraved on the front. Each door represented a memory, and all she had to do was find the right ones while dismantling any traps along the way.

Ignoring the draft, Ino set off down the hall at a brisk pace, checking the dates on the doors she passed by. They jumped around, as most memories tended to blend large chunks of time together. Sometimes, however, a singular event stood out so clearly in the mind that it had its own memory door. She passed a door that was dated only yesterday, a few hours ago, and figured that must be Itachi's recollection of his capture.

After several minutes of walking and too many doors to count, Ino came upon one that was isolated and releasing a faint glow. Immediately recognizing this memory to be rigged, she approached the door. It was dated several years ago, back when she would have still been a Genin. Frowning, she peered at the date more closely, wondering why it seemed so familiar.

"Go ahead, take another step."

For a moment, all the breath left Ino's body at the sound of another voice. Clenching her fists, she slowly turned to regard the intruder. "You're not supposed to be here."

Itachi's mental apparition was leaning against the opposite wall, studying her with an air of casual observation that a friend might employ. But Ino knew this was anything but friendly. Several thoughts registered in her mind at that point. The first was that Itachi clearly had much more chakra than the special restraining cuffs could sap, meaning he must be drawing on reserves from somewhere. The second was that he wasn't blindfolded in here, and though she was ninety-nine percent certain that he wouldn't be able to attack her in this state, the glow of the Sharingan was no less reassuring. The third thing she noticed, now that she had a look at him as he was meant to appear, was that he looked nothing like Sasuke at all.

"You're younger than I imagined you would be," he said.

Ino faced him fully. "Whatever you think you're doing, it's not going to work. I don't have time to chat with a prisoner."

He said nothing to that, and Ino decided that this was not the time to argue with a literal figment of her imagination. Turning her attention back to the door, she summoned chakra to her hands and began examining the structure of the trap in order to dismantle it without disturbing the memory it guarded. A few moments of silence passed as she worked.

A prickling sensation on her neck told her that Itachi was watching her carefully, but he made no move to stop her. Odd, she thought. He could attempt to push her out of the way at the very least, she thought, even if he couldn't hope to do much damage when she was in control of this technique in the first place. After some more tinkling with the trap and nearly burning herself when she released a little too much chakra, the trap disintegrated and the door lost its ominous glow. Ino smirked at her handiwork and reached out to twist the doorknob.

A cold hand clamped over her wrist, stopping her from opening the door. Forcing herself not to overreact and attack him, she fixed annoyed blue eyes on Itachi. "Let go of me," she said softly, the threat lingering in her tone.

Ruby eyes looked down at her, taking in her features in a way that made Ino feel small. She held his gaze defiantly; there was no way she'd let some apparition intimidate her.

"Everything you see in here is just as it happened," he said softly. "There are no illusions in memory."

Ino opened her mouth to respond to that, but closed it again. What the heck was that supposed to mean? Altering one's own memories was impossible, which was why interrogation of the mind was usually the be all end all of torture and interrogation. He was just telling her what she already knew.

Yanking her hand out of his grasp, she said, "I'm counting on it." Without sparing him another moment of her attention, she turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"Uchiha Itachi. I'm going to kill you."

Ino stared in shock at the scene unravelling before her. A twelve-year-old Sasuke stood at the far end of the hallway glaring daggers at Itachi, who was dressed in his customary Akatsuki garb. Itachi's partner, Hoshigaki Kisame, if Ino recalled correctly, was also there, as was a younger Naruto looking scared out of his mind.

_Of course, _Ino thought to herself. _This must be from that day when Itachi infiltrated Konoha and fought Asuma and the others._

She'd visited Sasuke in the hospital after the fact, and she remembered thinking how unreal it was for one man to take out all three male members of Team 7 without even breaking a sweat.

"Just like you said." His hand began to glow with blossoming electricity. "I've hated you, detested you, and now, for the sole purpose of killing you," Sasuke continued, the sound of a thousand chirping birds suddenly filling the confined space. "I've survived!"

Ino watched with arrested fascination as Sasuke's eyes burned with mad hatred.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, clearly as anxious as Ino felt.

And then Sasuke charged, his lightning-infused hand tearing through the nearby wall with the roiling force of his chakra. "Die!"

Itachi in the memory simply waited, reaching out at the last minute to grab Sasuke's Chidori hand by the wrist, effectively halting his mad dash. Unbelievably, the fabled lightning technique fizzled out into nothing, like a candle dying under a sudden gust of wind. The ensuing _crack_ signaled Ino that Itachi had broken Sasuke's wrist.

"You're in my way," Itachi said by way of explanation for the obvious show of brutality against his only remaining family. He threw Sasuke to the ground the way one might throw out a soiled rag.

The younger Uchiha gasped in pain and fury, sinking to his knees. Ino wanted to look away. The sight of Uchiha Sasuke, even though so young and clearly outclassed in every way, being tossed aside by the source of his hatred and pain, was infuriating. But this was just a memory—_Itachi's memory—_and she could do nothing but look on.

Jiraiya showed up soon after, and Sasuke managed to pull himself up. He warned Naruto and Jiraiya not to interfere, that he would be the one to kill Itachi.

"I have no interest in you right now," Itachi said dismissively. He then kicked his little brother aside when he tried to attack him again, expending almost no effort and hardly moving from his spot as Sasuke flew through the air and crash landed against the far wall.

Ino ran after him, wishing there was something she could do besides watch from the sidelines. This was what had happened to Sasuke all those years ago...

Itachi was right behind her. With one last burst of energy, Sasuke shot up from his crumpled position on the floor and lunged for his brother, but Itachi swatted him away once more. Ino could only stare in horror as Itachi delivered blow after devastating blow. Sasuke spun through the air like a top after a particularly nasty hit to the jaw, his blood splattering the wall. And all the while, Itachi remained impassive and emotionless, as though he wasn't beating the life out of his own brother.

"Bastard," she spat. "You fucking bastard."

But Itachi didn't hear her, of course. He simply shoved Sasuke's battered body against the wall by the collar. "You're weak," he said, leaning into Sasuke's ear. "Do you understand why? Because you lack hatred."

That was when the screams started, and Itachi's Sharingan changed. She didn't know much about the Mangekyou Sharingan other than the fact that it looked different from its normal form, but it wasn't hard to put two and two together. Whatever images Itachi was showing to Sasuke, they were enough to make him scream bloody murder and pass out.

It was too cruel. This was too cruel, and she couldn't bear to watch anymore. Ino focused her chakra and summoned the door, exiting the memory and slamming the door shut behind her. She slumped against it once she was back in the dim corridor of Itachi's mind.

After a moment, she realized the Itachi's apparition was still there, watching her casually, his expression unreadable. "I haven't revisited that memory in years."

Something in her snapped, and she fixed livid sapphire eyes on him. "What is _wrong_ with you?" She marched across the hall and got right up in his face, though this seemed to unnerve him not at all. "How could you do that to your own brother? He was just a boy!"

Itachi looked down at her for the longest time, and Ino could only think of the way he'd looked down on Sasuke before breaking him, mind and body, without even batting an eyelash. If she'd resented this man before, now she loathed him with a passion.

"I'm not here to explain what you see. That's your job," he said finally. "What you see here is my past just as it happened, nothing more, nothing less. Losing your temper with me won't change it."

Giving into the urge she'd had since first diving into that memory, Ino smacked her hand hard across his cheek, drawing a grim satisfaction from the stinging sensation it left in her palm and the way his face snapped to the side ninety degrees. They stayed that way for several tense moments before Ino broke the silence.

"I don't know what turned you into a monster, Itachi," she began. His red eyes swiveled to glance at her askance, but he didn't turn to regard her fully. "But I'm going to find out."

Itachi slowly turned his face around to look at her, and if Ino hadn't been trained not to crack under pressure, she may have taken a step back to distance herself from the intensity of his gaze. He leaned closer to her face, the ghost of anger almost visible in the way his eyes narrowed down at her. "Don't presume to understand things you know nothing about."

Ino got the uncanny sensation that he was hiding something from her. Not that it mattered; whatever it was, no secret was safe from her. It was only a matter of time before she knew everything there was to know about Uchiha Itachi. While this thought served to bolster her confidence, she couldn't help the chill at the base of her spine. Something told her she would not be the same once this was finished.

"I'll know soon enough," she countered, stepping back from him and bringing her hands together in the Yamanaka clan seal. "For now, you can enjoy the last days of keeping your secrets all to yourself."

Not waiting for a reply, Ino released her technique and woke up back in her physical body. Registering that she was still touching Itachi's hands, she immediately pulled them away, making only the brief observation that they weren't as cold now as they'd been earlier. He was a statue sitting across from her, not even reacting to her withdrawal of contact.

_Not so tough out here, are you._

"You're finished," Neji said, moving to the table to help her up.

Ino nodded, grateful for the hand he held out for her. "Yeah. How long has it been?"

"Four hours. Ibiki's waiting for your report outside."

Ino sighed. She hated how time seemed to pass her by in a flash on the outside while she worked. But there was no helping it. "Thanks."

She got up to leave, but just before she left, Itachi spoke.

"Your name," he said. It wasn't a question, but it wasn't a command either.

Ino blinked, half tempted not to tell him out of spite. But that would be childish. Neji just watched the elder Uchiha, seeming to think little of his words. What the hell.

"Yamanaka Ino," she said curtly. She waited a moment for a response, but when none came she opened the door to leave.

"Until next time...Ino," he said finally.

Ino's shoulders stiffened, and she shot a mild glare over her shoulder at the Uchiha. He couldn't see her, and suddenly that made her a little angry. "Ah, until then."

She left without another glance backwards.

* * *

It continued like this for days. Every memory she saw through Itachi's eyes as she travelled back in time was just as dark and grim as she would have expected of an Akatsuki. She watched him threaten innocent (and not so innocent) people with his partner, Kisame, whom she immediately learned was the type to rejoice in bloodshed. In fact, while Itachi tended to favor genjutsu to incapacitate his enemies, Kisame had no qualms about charging in, sword flaying and dismembering. Itachi's apparition continued to follow her from memory to memory, sometimes remaining silent as he remembered the past with her, and other times offering vague commentary. She'd taken to ignoring him until today, when she witnessed an extraction ceremony for the Jinchuuriki of the Five Tails. Had she not been trained to desensitize herself from the consequences of physical torture, she may not have been able to stomach the memory at all.

"Why, Itachi? Can you just answer me that much?" she asked, knowing that he'd never explain things to her. It just seemed wrong not to demand an explanation after witnessing such a vile example of human cruelty.

"Tell me, Ino," he said. "If your Hokage ordered you to assassinate a target, would you question her?"

Ino glowered at him. He was twisting her words and speaking in riddles, as she'd learned early on he was prone to do. Which meant this could be a trick question.

"If I were ordered to assassinate someone, it would be because that individual is a threat to the peace and safety of Konoha or the greater shinobi world."

He pushed off from the wall he was leaning against and took a couple steps toward her. "And what do you think your target's village would say about that? Or his family?"

Ino kept her expression carefully schooled. She knew what he was doing, and it wasn't going to work. "Konoha shinobi act under the legal sanction of the Hokage. We have enemies, and if necessary we deal with the threat by eliminating it, but everything we do is legal under the law."

"Under Konoha law, you mean."

"People will always disagree, Itachi. As long as people have opinions and values, no one will ever get along with everyone else in this world."

"Just as Konoha disagrees with Akatsuki's goals," he countered. "Did you ever stop to think that we act under orders from our leader much in the same way you act under orders from the Hokage?"

_Nice try._

"The difference between you and I is that what you're doing is considered terrorism," Ino said, not bothering to conceal her disgust as she uttered the last word.

He smirked, and Ino forgot some of her irritation. She'd never seen him exhibit much of any emotion other than apathy.

"You see, that's the problem with people. They only see what they want to see, and blind themselves to different perspectives. What is reality? What is illusion? These are simply perceptions applied for convenience by people like your Hokage to justify their actions. But if you take the time to look around, you'll see that there's no way to disprove the truth."

"And what truth might that be?"

"That the strong overpower the weak. The organized and powerful force their way of life on those less united. And a shinobi's trade is death, regardless of affiliation." He turned to look at the door to the memory of the extraction she'd just witnessed, an unreadable expression on his face. "You may call it murder, or justice, or even mercy, but in the end death is simply death. It always ends the same way."

Ino opened her mouth to call him out on that, but she paused. What he said... It made sense. No matter how it was labeled, or how it was or was not justified, shinobi dealt in death and suffering. All that changed was the seal at the bottom of the mission scroll sanctioning it.

But that was no excuse for the atrocities committed by Akatsuki.

"I can see your point, but you're still wrong. Akatsuki abduct and murder innocents for power. Konoha would never do such a thing. We kill to preserve the peace, and only when it's absolutely necessary and justified."

Scarlet eyes found their way back to Ino, and this time she nearly did take a step back. He looked somehow older in that moment than he had before. It made her feel exposed.

"You're half right," he said cryptically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.

But he said no more. Instead, he turned away from her and walked down the hall. Ino watched his back until he faded into the darkness. It was only then, when she'd finally taken the time to look, that she noticed the large Uchiha fan emblazoned on the back of his shirt. She blinked, making sure it wasn't a figment of her imagination, but he disappeared soon after.

Ino stood there for several moments, unsure of how to proceed. Had that always been there these past days? Why hadn't she seen it until now?

And why did she feel like whatever Itachi was hiding, she would regret finding out when the time came?

* * *

"Itachi!"

Ino watched as if in a dream as a much younger version of Sasuke bounded toward his older brother from the Academy's front gates. Itachi smiled and didn't resist when Sasuke hugged him around the waist. Itachi then patted his brother's head and Sasuke pulled away.

"Where's Mother?" Sasuke asked.

"Shopping. She asked me to pick you up today."

If Sasuke was upset about this, he sure hid it well. A smile the likes of which Ino had never seen on the boy—or maybe she'd long since forgotten—spread across Sasuke's face as he grabbed his big brother's hand. "Can we practice the fireball technique today? Please?"

Itachi seemed to hesitate as he thought about this, and after a moment Sasuke's expression fell. "Come on, please? You never have time for me, so just this once? Please please?"

Itachi sighed, another small smile tugging at his lips. "All right, but only for a little bit. I have a mission later today that I need to prepare for."

"Ooh! Is it an ANBU mission? Are you gonna kill some bad guys?"

Itachi's smile faded. "It doesn't matter, Sasuke. Let's go, we're wasting time. You want to practice as long as possible, right?"

"Yeah! Let's go, let's _go!" _Sasuke tugged Itachi by the hand away from the Academy, trying to break into a run but failing as Itachi held him back.

Ino could only follow, absolutely stunned at the scene she was witnessing. After almost two weeks of nothing but Akatsuki violence, sinister politics, and a grinning shark man, she'd now stumbled upon the part of Itachi's life that existed before the Uchiha massacre. Logically speaking, she knew that Itachi must have been a more normal person before everything fell apart, but as the perpetrator behind arguably the most heinous crime in Konoha's history, she was expecting something more along the lines of the reclusive psychopath ready to snap at any second. She hadn't been expecting this.

She never expected to see Itachi, the loving older brother, idolized by the one person who'd made it his life's goal to end his existence in the most painful way possible.

The scene changed and Itachi was demonstrating the Uchiha clan's signature Great Fireball technique to an august Sasuke, whose eyes had widened to a seemingly impossible size. She could even feel the heat from Itachi's perfectly executed jutsu. He wasted hardly any chakra, and his timing was flawless. Even at such a young age, it was easy to see how he'd become hailed as a genius and a legend destined for greatness. Terrible greatness, but greatness nonetheless.

"Release when you feel your chakra buildup almost about to reach its peak, and not a moment after. If you wait until it peaks, you'll end up wasting chakra and releasing an underpowered attack," Itachi instructed.

Sasuke concentrated, trying very hard to apply his brother's instructions to his own jutsu. Ino watched as mini Sasuke performed the required hand seals, inhaled, and released a great breath. Unfortunately, what came out was simply a puff of black smoke and no fire. Itachi chuckled a little, but Sasuke looked absolutely downtrodden as he tried to suppress a coughing fit from inhaling too much smoke.

"Aw man! I thought I had it!"

"You released too early," Itachi explained. "Timing is crucial. You've almost got it, though."

Sasuke still looked miffed as he pouted.

_I almost can't believe this is how he used to be._

Whether she meant Sasuke or Itachi, Ino could not clearly say.

Sasuke shook his head. "I gotta get better. Father says you're the best, but I wanna be the best too."

Itachi's expression suddenly changed. Where before he looked content to be helping Sasuke, now he seemed guarded, almost uncomfortably so. Ino crept close to them as Itachi put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and kneeled down before him.

"You know, being strong isn't all it's made out to be. The truly powerful become arrogant and withdrawn, even though at first they were just chasing their dream," Itachi said.

Sasuke frowned, not really understanding. "But you're strong. And I wanna be just like you."

Itachi ruffled Sasuke's hair, a sad smile on his face. "You are I are family, Sasuke. Remember that I'll always be there for you, even if it's just as an obstacle for you to overcome."

Ino was just as baffled as Sasuke. It almost sounded like he was saying—

"And even if you hate me... That's what big brothers are for."

_It almost sounds like he's egging Sasuke on. Like he knows they'll be enemies one day..._

The memory began to fade as Ino let go of her chakra. She took a step back through the door once more, and suddenly the pair of brothers faded from her sight, and she found herself back in the dark depths of Itachi's mind.

"Why aren't you trying to stop me?" Ino asked, still facing the now closed door.

Itachi didn't make a sound as he watched her from the other side of the hallway, but he obviously knew which memory she'd just seen. As per his usual, he took his time responding, if at all. "There would be little point."

Ino turned to face him, unsure whether to be angry or frustrated or to smack some sense into him again. "But you don't even try. It's like you don't care." She paused, scanning his features for any sign of a reaction. There was none. "If you're so complacent about this, why didn't you just talk to Ibiki? You don't strike me as the type to allow violence against you without defending yourself."

At this, he did react. Pushing off the opposite wall, Itachi closed the distance between them. Ino remained rooted to the spot, unwilling to let him intimidate her.

"People live in their own worlds, play by their own rules, and everything else is just..." he paused, searching for the right word. "White noise. Drivel." He leveled her with a heavy looked. "Fantasy. Do you know how difficult it is for people to accept fantasy as reality?"

"Stop speaking in riddles, Itachi. I'm not in the mood today."

His expression softened, but not in a nice way. He seemed world weary, an old soul stuck in his own body. "When is anyone in the mood to change their worldview?"

"I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something, but you're not sure if you want me to know," Ino said. "Or maybe you don't know how to express it."

"There's nothing to express. Anything you want to know is waiting behind these closed doors."

Ino shook her head. "What's the big secret? Why can't you come out and tell us and end this torture?"

Itachi remained silent, choosing instead to step away from her. Ino was not about to let it end like this without getting some answers.

"Who was that boy in the memory?" she said, stepping closer to him as he put distance between them. "Because he sure as hell doesn't look like a killer."

"Another fantasy," Itachi said softly. He turned to her once more. "But remember this, Yamanaka Ino. One man's fantasy is another man's reality. A liar is just someone who knows how to sell fantasies that suit him to those desperate for something to believe in."

He made to leave again, but Ino reached out and grabbed his hand in her own. Sapphire met ruby in a clash that was less hostile, more desperate than usual.

"I'll find it," she said with quiet conviction. "Whatever horrible secret you're hiding, I'll find it."

"If you do, your fantasy will cease to exist," he said softly. "And that's more of a tragedy than you know."

Ino didn't know what to say to that. When he pulled away and faded into the darkness once more, she found that she couldn't stop him.

But for some reason, she wanted to.

* * *

Every day it was the same routine. Mornings he would be fed, allowed to stand and walk about his cell instead of being strapped to a chair. Morino Ibiki would talk to him, mostly about mundane topics, but Itachi knew better. Ibiki was a master interrogator, and it seemed that he hadn't given up trying to get Itachi to reveal information about Akatsuki and his motives for joining the organization. Itachi never gave him what he wanted to hear. If they wanted the information so badly, Ino would have to rip it out of him.

Konoha's methods were just as brutal as remembered. Even though he was up for mental interrogation as a priority, it seemed that he wasn't exempt from a beating or two. Not that it mattered. Itachi had never been one to shy away from pain. Uchiha were borne of fire, raised with pain, and mired in blood.

_Father would be so proud._

He had to chuckle at that. If only his father could see him now.

"_Our pain will only last a moment, but yours will stay with you forever."_

Perhaps after all these years, Itachi had finally learned the meaning of that warning. But there was no time to let go. He still had something he needed to do. No doubt the Akatsuki were mobilizing to retrieve him. They'd be here any day, of this he was certain. Tobi would not let him go so easily.

It was during the afternoons that the true trials began. The mindwalker was everything he hadn't been expecting, and yet he supposed that was the point. But she had no idea what she was getting herself into. Every day, with every door she opened, every memory she unearthed, brought her one step closer to her own downfall. He didn't want this at first. He knew they would resort to mind reading eventually, and he'd been anxious about how to keep his dark secrets from Konoha. It was a miracle Danzo hadn't found out about his presence here yet. This was likely the only reason Itachi was even still alive.

No one was supposed to know. He'd made sure of that when he came back years ago with Kisame, an indirect threat to Danzo that harming Sasuke would summon the wrath of the elder Uchiha. He'd played the villain perfectly all these years, biding his time, waiting for the day when Sasuke would finally be strong enough to end the madness and lay their family to rest once and for all. Itachi had always wanted to die knowing that he'd protected the ones he loved most, and what better way than to die by Sasuke's hand in retribution for their fallen clan?

But that, too, was a fantasy. Sasuke didn't understand the vile nature of the Uchiha, and if Itachi had it his way he never would. Just because a thing is fantasy doesn't make it evil. Sasuke's fantasy would always be kinder than Itachi's reality, no matter how ashamed he was of the pain he'd inflicted on the one person he cared about more than anything.

But Ino might find this out eventually, and Itachi didn't have the strength to stop her as long as they kept him bound and drained. His only hope now was Akatsuki's intervention.

_How ironic,_ he thought bitterly.

He didn't want her to know because it would ruin his plans. He didn't want her to expose the dreadful reality of Konoha's past, of the Uchiha's past, of his past. But he also didn't want to taint this place for her. She clearly loved Konoha just as fervently as any Leaf ninja. And she was willing to break her body for it without complaint. Even blind to the world and too lethargic to move much, Itachi could feel it in her hands when she touched him for the mind reading technique. She was losing her energy little by little every day. If this kept up for much longer, she'd be in serious medical trouble. And yet, she persisted. It almost reminded him of his own devotion to the village he'd given his life for.

She didn't deserve to know the ugly truth. He didn't want to be responsible for ruining another life. The burden was too great already.

_What's one more soul to devour? You're already damned, and misery loves company._

He didn't even have the energy to silence that vile voice. He could only hope they'd come for him sooner rather than later, before it was too late for her too.

But then, Itachi had all but forgotten how to hope.

* * *

_This is it, _Ino thought to herself. _The Uchiha massacre._

Once she located the date of the massacre, she hovered outside the door just staring at it. There was a powerful barrier around it, visible from far down the hallway, and truth be told Ino had been procrastinating taking a look at it. She knew what was on the other side, and after all those memories of Itachi the Model Big Brother and Itachi the Akatsuki Psychopath, she wasn't sure what she wanted to see behind this door. The trap itself would take a long time to dismantle on her own. She estimated that once she removed it, she would have to rest until the next session to actually view the memory. This would take a considerable amount of chakra.

_I guess it's now or never,_ she thought grimly.

"If I told you I had something I needed to do before I die, what would you say?"

Ino let her chakra fizzle out and focused her attention on her ever-present companion. "I guess that would depend on what it was."

He seemed to consider this, and Ino wondered if he'd take the bait. "Would you respond differently if I were a loved one?"

_Of course he wouldn't fall for that._

"Well, my loved ones aren't likely to do something reprehensible, like murder their families."

He averted his gaze and Ino suddenly felt cheap for saying that. "I'm sorry, that was low."

_Why am I apologizing to Uchiha Itachi?_

Before she could rationalize the thought, he said, "It's the truth."

"Yeah, but..."

_But what?_

The look he gave her seemed to ask that same question. Ino shook her head. Something was not right with her, clearly. Between the constant strain on her chakra, the inundation of Itachi's memories, and stressing about her father's hospitalization, she'd had little time to properly rest and recuperate, and it was starting to catch up with her. Her mother was worried that the bags under her eyes would become permanent.

"Don't forget, Ino. I'm the villain here."

"A villain wouldn't say that so nicely."

He rewarded her with a half smile that seemed forced.

"What happened to you, Itachi? Why did you do it?" she found herself asking.

He reached for her, and for a moment Ino thought he would touch her hair. But he stopped himself just at the last second, letting his hand fall to his side. "You don't want to know," he whispered. "Believe me."

Never had Ino believed truer words in all her life.

* * *

"So what's this big secret project Ibiki's gotcha workin' on?" Chouji said through a mouthful of fried rice.

Ino frowned at her own half-eaten food. "Oh, just the usual. With my dad out of commission, I'm kind of in high demand. What can I say?"

"Huh. Well, just make sure you're getting enough sleep. I'm pretty sure that's not makeup under your eyes."

Ino smiled at her teammate and friend, knowing he meant well. Shikamaru, however, was not buying it.

"You're sticking to a pretty regular schedule lately, and you're drained after every session," he said.

Ino maintained an air of nonchalance. "What of it? Mind reading isn't exactly a walk in the park."

"Your mom's worried about you. There's a rumor going around Tactics," he continued, "that Ibiki landed a big fish. An S-class criminal."

Ino hoped Shikamaru didn't pick up the way she faltered with her chopsticks in an attempt to procure more rice from her bowl.

_Wishful thinking._

"Well, you know what they say about rumors."

"Yeah. That they start with a grain of truth," Shikamaru said.

Ino waved him off. When throwing Nara Shikamaru off a trail, it was best to ignore his proddings completely. "Whatever. Chouji, pass the cabbage."

The rest of the meal passed mostly without incident, but Ino knew he wasn't going to let this slide. So she was not at all surprised when Shikamaru cornered her after the meal.

"Look, you're making this way more troublesome than it has to be," he griped. "Just...tell me you're okay."

Ino's irritation immediately melted at the show of genuine concern. It made her wonder what exactly Tactics had unearthed about what was going on if he was this worried. But asking would only open the door to more questions.

"Hey, what do you think about perception?" she asked instead.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, right and wrong, good and evil. What do you think?"

Shikamaru studied her for a moment, probably trying to glean her true meaning. "I guess I'd say nothing is absolute. It's important to analyze every situation individually and without prejudice. Battles have been won and lost because of personal baggage."

"Yeah but, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, you know," Ino said.

"I guess, if that's how you want to look at it. But you'd have to cut that duck open and make sure it bleeds like a duck before you can be totally certain."

Ino made a face at that. "I really didn't need that imagery."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He turned to leave, stretching his arms out over his head lazily.

Ino also made to leave. She had her session with Itachi soon.

"Hey, Ino."

"Yeah?" she said, turning back to her teammate.

"Everyone's a liar these days. It's the ones who tell the truth that you have to watch out for."

Ino watched him walk away. Deep down, she wondered if it was really worth knowing the truth after all.

* * *

It took her the better part of two days, but she finally cracked it. The door to the memory of the day the Uchiha massacre happened was just a twist of the doorknob away. Even low on chakra, maybe a peek wouldn't hurt. She should know what to expect, she reasoned. This was something everyone knew about, especially her generation having Sasuke as a classmate. But she hesitated.

"You don't want me to go through this door."

Even without turning around, she knew Itachi was there, watching. "No, I don't."

Ino looked at him over her shoulder. "Why not? What could I possibly see that isn't already public knowledge?"

Itachi took a moment to study her, his stance relaxed enough to cover up the fact that he was clearly reaching his limits with all the interrogations. Even his mind was starting to shut down on him. "The truth."

Ino marched right up to him and looked directly into his eyes. "Itachi, whatever you may think of this situation, if I find something..._incriminating_, I can bring it to the Hokage. It's not possible to lie to me when I use my technique."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Ino?" he said, leaning his face toward hers to that she could feel his breath against her cheek.

He was baiting her, she knew. He wanted her to voice her theory. Well, she'd give him that if he really wanted it. They were running out of time anyway. "I'm suggesting that you're hiding something crucial about what happened that night. You play the villain well, but that big brother, the one Sasuke idolized, definitely isn't a villain. You can't be both. I don't know why you'd even try."

He merely watched her wordlessly, eyes searching but ever patient.

"That boy in your memories," Ino went on. "He's a hero. He's the model shinobi, the big brother everyone wishes they had, the pride of his clan." She laughed humorlessly. "He's tall, dark, and mysterious, the cool older guy all the Genin girls would have dreamed of marrying one day."

Itachi couldn't help the smile that escaped him just then, and Ino stared openly at the sight.

"Another life," he said. "It's a nice dream, but a dream nonetheless."

Ino was suddenly very sad for Itachi for reasons she could not quite name. But he was still smiling softly, and some unnamed force within her demanded that she sustain that feeling for as long as possible. "You'd grow up and have a team of Genin," she continued. "Because I don't think ANBU would really suit you. You don't seem like the type who loves the kill, not like Kisame. You'd be good with kids, maybe one of the best teachers in the village because you're patient, just like you were with Sasuke when he was trying to learn that fireball technique.

"And," she paused, wracking her brain. "And you're also the Hokage's adviser, because god knows Naruto's gonna need all the help he can get when he does become Hokage one day."

Itachi blinked slowly, but his smile never faltered. Emboldened, Ino went on.

"Sasuke would probably still be your number one fan, but he'd never admit it to the rest of us. It's a competition between you two, just like it used to be, but he's also your number one defender when someone tries to bring you down."

Itachi looked down momentarily, and Ino started to worry that she'd said the wrong thing bringing up Sasuke. But Itachi still had that softer look about him, if not a little melancholy.

"You'd probably be totally awkward with girls because you'd have no time for them. You're so busy with being the heir to the Uchiha clan that you don't even know flirting when it hits you in the face."

He met her gaze again, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "That's going a bit too far."

Ino laughed lightly. "You would be a total flop, a genius in everything except love. Until one day some girl just doesn't give up on you, even when you spill wine on her shirt or forget her birthday. She'll force you to lighten up and be a human being instead of some untouchable trophy ninja."

"Trophy ninja?"

Ino touched him lightly on the shoulder, smiling brightly. "Yeah, you're such a trophy. Killer pedigree, killer looks, killer...in general..." she trailed off, suddenly realizing the implications of her words.

Itachi seemed to overlook that slip, but Ino knew he'd heard her loud and clear. He pulled away. "It's a beautiful fantasy," was all he said.

She didn't want to shatter the moment. It was a fantasy, just as he'd said, but one man's fantasy was another man's reality. "Maybe I could have known you," she said.

"Maybe," he returned, holding her gaze.

In that instant she knew that there was much more to Uchiha Itachi than he allowed the world to see. For whatever reason, he had thrown himself into this life as the villain, the nightmare, and she had the distinct feeling that it was all bogus. He may have been a good liar, but Ino made it her job to find the truth in lies. The proof was there, just behind that door across the hall, but even now she just knew something was amiss about this entire situation.

"Itachi..."

"Wait," he said. "Just a little longer."

Ino had never been an overly emotional girl. She'd never been prone to tears or tantrums, always preferring to get even instead of getting mad. But something in the way he pleaded with her not to end the dream of a fate far kinder than what he'd been dealt broke her heart. This wasn't Itachi the Akatsuki, or Itachi the Kinslayer, but Itachi the man who'd somehow ended up wearing the villain's mask so well that he could no longer remove it if he wanted to.

"Tomorrow then," she said, voice cracking. "I'll wait until tomorrow."

When she opened her eyes, she was crying in real life. Neji stood in the far corner keeping watch, but he currently had his eyes closed. Ino looked from Itachi's blindfold to their clasped hands. He looked worse every day, from lack of sleep, sunlight, and the brutal mind probing he was suffering under her. But this man had to be the same one who'd just smiled for her, even if it was just a dream.

She gently squeezed his hands in hers. They felt stiff and spindly, the hands of an old man. She wished she could remove his blindfold more than anything and see him in this world, too.

"Ino," Neji said. He was immediately by her side, having just noticed that she looked upset.

Ino immediately retracted her hands from Itachi's and wiped at her eyes. "Hey, I'm fine."

Neji helped her stand, discreetly eyeing Itachi as he did so. Ino managed a tired smile. "Just the strain from overwork. Sometimes I get teary-eyed."

Neji didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue. "I'll walk you home."

Ino nodded, and they passed by Itachi's seated form. He didn't so much as twitch to acknowledge them.

* * *

That night, as Ino slept and dreamed, Akatsuki arrived in Konoha to break Itachi out of his prison. With so few people knowing the identity of the prisoner they were supposed to be guarding, Kisame made quick work of Konoha's defenses. They were in and out in ten minutes, and not a sleeping soul in all the village roused from slumber.

Itachi could not have wished for better timing. One more day of this, and Ino surely would have uncovered the truth about the Uchiha massacre and Konoha's involvement in its execution. Sasuke was his priority, his only reason for living, and he had to take that secret to the grave. Getting her to warm up to him had worked according to plan, he thought as Kisame shattered the chakra-suppressing handcuffs cutting off his energy. As soon as they were off, Itachi felt as though life had been breathed into him anew. The blindfold came off after that, and he got his first look at the reality all around him.

They exited the interrogation building in silence. No guards cut them off; they were all already dead. He didn't like it, but it was the more natural outcome in line with his Akatsuki persona. He ignored the smell of blood and death as they stole through dark hallways into the crisp night air. It was laughably easy to infiltrate and escape Konoha even weakened as he was. In another time, perhaps he would have been in charge of buffing up village security to better protect against the machinations of terrorist organizations.

But thinking about what could have been only distracted him from his tasks in this reality.

Itachi turned back to look at the sleeping village of Konoha. His thoughts wandered back to Yamanaka Ino, the girl he'd intended to throw off with his usual lies and tricks. In the end, he'd succeeded only after resorting the selfishness he swore to himself he'd never indulge again since _that _night.

_What a beautiful fantasy,_ he thought, gaze lingering on the place he could only now call home within the darkest confines of his mind. _I wish I could have seen more of it. _

"So Itachi," Kisame drawled, a toothy grin reflecting the light of the full moon. "How'd you get around their mind readers? You didn't spill Akatsuki secrets, did you?"

"Nothing of importance. We're leaving, Kisame," he said.

Kisame just laughed, not even bothering to mention that Itachi had blatantly avoided the first question. As they sailed through the familiar trees he'd grown up with, Itachi wondered if this incident would haunt him.

Like all fantasies, it was best to dispel them before they consumed him, lest he start to wish for that which he could never, ever have. But for one night, maybe it was okay to dream of smiling faces, a loving family, and endless blue eyes.

_Just for tonight._

* * *

Ino couldn't help but wonder, as she flopped down onto bed that night not even bothering to change her clothes, how long it was possible to dream while reality continued moving forward, leaving the dreamers behind. Probably not long, she decided.

Staring up at the stars, as she would do for many long nights in the years to come, after reality came crashing down and the world was turned upon its head, she would always wonder. Had she ever really seen the man hidden behind the blindfold? Had he seen her?

It terrified her that he could have been the right person sent to her at the wrong time, in the wrong life. They could have been great, but life, love, and happy endings are all in the timing. And their time had run out before it ever even began.


	3. SasoSaku

True Love Is...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"True love is a promise kept."

Pairing: SasoSaku

Comments: Dedicated to Stefanie92J and SingsWithWords for relentlessly putting up with my SasoSaku feels. Originally posted for SasoSaku month.

* * *

It was never supposed to be this way.

He left and took a piece of her heart with him. That was the end of it. She was done grasping at vapor, only to watch it float through her fingers and dissolve in the morning light. He was like mist, she thought ironically—caressing her skin with dewdrop kisses, but never really there. Never solid, never hers. But Sasori would never abide such an analogy, wedded as he was to eternity and beauty and other such fanciful notions so lost on Sakura when all she'd ever really wanted was _him._

_I brought this upon myself._

She'd known what she was getting herself into when she got involved with a missing nin. And now, Sasori was god knows where doing god knows what with only a parting, "Wait for me" as consolation. Sakura sighed and ran a hand through pink tangles as she remembered that moment, the way his eyes lingered on her just a moment longer than was necessary, the quiet strain in his tone he probably didn't want her to hear. Did he realize how selfish such a request was?

_Yes, the bastard, _Sakura thought bitterly.

But Sakura was patient. She had to be when it came to him, for all his impatience. They were a walking contradiction, the pair of them. He wanted forever, yet he couldn't even give her five minutes before dashing off to take care of unfinished business he'd put off for too long.

A crashing sound jolted Sakura out of her reverie, and she quickly made her way to her bedroom, the only one in the small cabin. Worried, she pushed through the door, tired green eyes darting left and right in search of her target.

A splintered heap of painted wood sat unceremoniously on the floor, the remains of a chair Sakura had brought with her from her parents' home back in Konoha. Hovering over the mess stood a small girl child looking like a deer caught in the headlights—innocent until proven guilty. Sakura crossed her arms and put on her best Disappointed Doctor face.

"Chisaki, I know what you did," Sakura said, looking down over her nose at the three-year-old.

Chisaki blinked dark green eyes up at her mother and frowned. For a moment, Sakura felt her No Excuses pretense chip away. She looked so much like _him _when she made that face. Unfortunately, Chisaki picked up on her mother's hesitation and beamed.

"Smash!"

Sakura looked between her daughter and the newest victim of her perfect chakra control. She hadn't really considered the full extent of the consequences when she decided to capitalize on her daughter's rapidly developing aptitude for ninjutsu. "I see that. What did Mommy say about destroying the furniture?"

Chisaki's expression faltered, sensing she was in trouble now. She hung her head a bit, bright red bangs shielding her face from view. "I'm sowy."

Sakura knelt down before the girl and ruffled her hair. "We only smash when it's training time, okay? You know that."

Chisaki nodded, and Sakura felt her resolve wavering. Thinking of Sasori always dampened her spirits, and the last thing she wanted to do now was spread her mood to her daughter. Smiling, she said, "How about we smash the trees outside? Does that sound like fun?"

Chisaki immediately brightened. "Yeah!"

"What do you say?" Sakura said, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"Peese," Chisaki appended.

Sakura laughed. "Okay. Go get your coat."

The pair trudged outside into the snow shortly after. Despite the foot-and-a-half layer of snow, Chisaki was undeterred. With a level of concentration lost on most three-year-olds, she concentrated her chakra just as Sakura had been showing her and let loose upon an unsuspecting Aspen. The silver tree quaked and shuddered before snapping in two. Sakura nodded her approval, then picked up the felled tree and proceeded to swing it like a baseball bat, kicking up snow. Chisaki squealed as she was sprayed with snow and ice, eventually pulling herself on top of the snow with chakra to outrun the onslaught. Laughter filled the still forest, and Sakura felt any thoughts of loneliness slowly and surely ebb away with setting sun.

* * *

He'd crossed a continent to get here.

After a while, he stopped counting his steps through sticky swamps and verdant forests, barely noticing the landscape giving way to harsh, wintry mountains. His debt was paid in full with interest for old wrongs and past grudges.

_And for the sheer personal enjoyment of it._

The Aspen trees shuddered with his passing, silver spirits that watched him through weeping eyes in their bark, following him. Tonight, under the cloak of darkness with only the light of the moon tracking his shadow, he would return to make good on the only promise he'd ever made in his life.

The small cabin was just as he'd left it, isolated and free from prying eyes. He paused only to eye the choppy snow that covered the front yard. It appeared as though a herd of wild mountain boars had torn through here on a rampage. A smirk tugged at Sasori's lips at the thought that he wasn't really too far off knowing the true cause of the destruction.

Silent as a wraith, he dismantled the lock on the front door and let himself inside. Darkness greeted him, but a glow around the corner alerted him to a fire blazing in the hearth. Quietly, he shrugged off his woolen travel wear and slipped out of his snow boots. A chill penetrated his underclothing, but once he came upon the living area the fire's heat was more than enough to stave off the cold. Honey eyes surveyed the area, searching for changes to the place he remembered from years ago.

A maroon blanket sat folded over the back of the only sofa in the room, and Sasori moved to pick it up. Slowly, he lifted the material to his face and inhaled. His eyes drifted shut as senses dulled by the interminable passage of time sparked to life with the memory of _her _scent. Sasori had never been a patient man. It would not do to waste another minute when what he wanted most was so close.

A creak in the floorboards made him react out of instinct, and he lashed out with his chakra strings at the source of the disturbance. A gasping sound filled the room, and under the soft glow of the fire he saw her. Honey met green in a show of shock he rarely displayed.

"Who are you?"

The small, high pitched voice cut through the quiet of the room and snapped Sasori out of his momentary tenseness. He took in her too-small frame, the shock of red hair, and wide green eyes. She stared back at him with only cursory interest, more concerned with why her little body couldn't move under the weight of his chakra strings.

_Has it been so long..._

Carefully, so as not to alarm her, Sasori knelt down and pulled her closer, one cautious step at a time. The little girl's eyes widened, and she looked about to cry out.

"Don't be afraid," Sasori said, cringing inwardly at his frigid tone.

"I dunno you," she said.

He could tell she wanted to call for her mother, but refrained. He knew that look, he realized. The stubborn crease between her eyebrows, the slightly protruding lower lip and set of her jaw...

"I'm stuck," she said before he had a chance to answer.

A sharp breath escaped him then. He'd seen every kind of reaction imaginable to his manipulation, but never one such as this. Slowly, so she could see him do it, he detached his strings from her and withdrew them. As expected, innocent eyes watched the translucent strings with a degree of awe only a child can possess. For a moment, he let himself wonder if, in another lifetime, he'd ever been able to grasp that feeling as she could.

"Do you want to know how?" he whispered, careful to remove the usual bite in his tone.

At this, she lit up like Christmas morning. "Yeah!" After a moment of hesitation she added, "Peese?"

Sasori took a moment to look at her. The last time he'd seen her, she was too small even to open her eyes. But it was enough to know she existed somewhere, waiting for him. Sasori hated keeping people waiting, but she didn't even know him. And yet, looking at her now, he wondered how he ever could have considered turning Sakura into a puppet all those years ago.

"Watch carefully," he said, showing her his hands.

One by one, he went through the requisite hand seals for the puppet technique. She squinted at his long fingers, bending with practiced ease. When he'd performed the series twice, he let his hands fall. "Try it."

Suddenly very serious with a new project to complete, she tried to twist her fingers into complex shapes. She misplaced her pinky on the final symbol, and Sasori reached for her hand to correct it.

"Like this," he instructed, guiding her finger into the correct position.

_She's so small._

A part of him felt like he was looking down at himself interacting with the daughter whose name he didn't even know. Everything he'd suffered through, even in those times when he thought for sure he wouldn't make it out with his life... What had gotten him to this point? She was just a child...

"Like this?" she said, holding up the final symbol for him to inspect.

"Perfect," he said, reaching out a hand to touch her short red hair before he could stop himself.

"Oh my god."

He hadn't anticipated the physical reaction he would feel upon hearing _that _voice after all this time. A chill crept up his spine and he clenched his jaw involuntarily. This was the moment he'd been dreading and desiring for so long. It was the first time he was coming into a situation with absolutely no idea what to expect. Masking the questions with his usual blank look, Sasori rose and turned away from the little girl.

"Sakura."

She looked like she'd seen a ghost. Sasori just stood there, unable to look away from the sight of her after so long. His throat felt constricted for want of the right words to say. After so long without the need to indulge emotions other than black hatred, he felt exposed under her stare.

"Sasori," she rasped.

For a moment he couldn't breathe, suspended in time and space as she stepped toward him. Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered unintelligible speech from his daughter—_their daughter—_but he couldn't concentrate on anything but the woman approaching him—

"Umph!"

Pain erupted in Sasori's abdomen, and he was forced to stumble back a few steps. The world spun and he could have sworn he was seeing stars. Wheezing for air, he tried to calm the convulsing in his stomach in the aftermath of her beating. With much effort, honey eyes cracked open and fought to see through the pain. Tears fell down her face as anger gave way to unimaginable relief. The next thing he knew, she was clutching him to her and sobbing on his shoulder.

Sasori coughed from the pain of her assault, but she only pulled him closer. As the initial shock and pain wore off, he picked up on the fact that Sakura was hugging him. She was everywhere, her scent heady and all-consuming, her hair soft against his cheek. Tentatively, as though afraid she might break away from him the way she did in all his dreams over the past few years, he raised shaking arms to her waist. His grip was unsure and gentle at first, but when she made no move to loosen the death grip she had on his neck, he finally indulged the desire he'd been denied all these years.

"Damn you," he heard her whisper against the skin of his neck. "Damn you to hell."

A hand found its way to her hair, and he reveled in the softness. Even after nearly three years and the stress that must come with raising a child, she hadn't changed at all. And as always, where words escaped him, touch conveyed the message loud and clear.

_This, _he thought.

But he would never apologize for leaving. They both knew it had to be done, and it was a long time coming. It wasn't until this moment that Sasori realized how long he'd gone with only Deidara for company. It wasn't enough.

"Mommy?"

Sakura fisted Sasori's shirt, and he tightened his grip on her waist, a silent warning. She pulled away regardless. It seemed she still wasn't afraid to put them on hold for something more pressing.

"Chisaki," she said, wiping her tears with the back of a hand. "It's okay, come here."

_Chisaki._

She hesitated in approaching, and Sasori wondered if she was afraid of him after all. He wouldn't blame the girl, but how could she know anything about him? How could she know what he'd done? How he'd almost let himself kill Sakura all those years ago? How Sakura had succeeded in killing him once before? He suddenly felt very uncomfortable being near this innocent child.

Sakura gave him a strange look, sensing the sudden change in his demeanor. She gave his hand a tug. "This is...Sasori," she said gently.

Chisaki studied Sasori as though he were a very interesting rock specimen. The moment of scrutiny ended and she smiled. "Hi Sasowee."

A moment of silence descended in which Sasori reflected that he'd never heard anyone mispronounce his name in such a ridiculous manner. When Sakura began to laugh, he felt his shoulders relax and his previous discomfort fade into the background a bit.

"Yeah, Sasowee," Sakura confirmed.

For the first time in years, Sasori did not mind the idea of a joke at his expense.

* * *

Sakura watched Sasori and Chisaki over the rim of her mug of hot chocolate. They were seated in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by Chisaki's stuffed animals and dolls, but this was not playtime.

"Release a steady stream of your chakra," Sasori instructed. "The technique only requires a little power, but it has to be precisely controlled."

Sakura wondered if she should tell Sasori to speak more simply with the girl, but the look of supreme focus on their daughter's face made her bite her tongue. Just when it looked like she might lose her concentration, the technique succeeded. Thin, blue chakra threads flowed from Chisaki's stubby fingers like so many tiny rivers. Wide green eyes marvelled at the sight, and Sakura found herself wondering if Sasori had ever looked like this when he was her age, before the cruelty of the shinobi world caught up to him.

"Look!" Chisaki said excitedly.

Sasori did not look impressed. "Now direct it to this...purple penguin," he said, holding the plushie by two fingers as though afraid of catching a disease.

Sakura watched as her little girl latched onto the stuffed toy and caused it to hover with only the use of her chakra.

"Haha, he's dancing! Look!"

The penguin wobbled to and fro in the air, guided by Chisaki's chakra strings in what could have passed for a crude dance. Sakura leaned her face on an open palm and watched Sasori carefully for a reaction. She knew very well what he thought about puppetry being an art form similar to dance.

"Very good," he said softly, the beginnings of a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Now make it spin."

Sakura sipped her drink, content to watch them. Sasori had explained the dark details of his absence to her into the wee hours of the morning last night once she'd gotten Chisaki back into bed. It had taken longer than expected and the combined efforts of both Sasori and Deidara, but they'd managed to track down the ever elusive Orochimaru and eliminate him and his surviving supporters. With the old snake Sannin finally just a bad memory, Sasuke wouldn't have to look over his shoulder anymore. Sasori had his closure. And of course, Sakura could finally feel some measure of security for her young daughter.

_Our daughter._

He was unsure how to act around her. It was easy enough for Sakura to tell, knowing him as well as she did even after such a long separation. He'd left before they could even name the girl, delaying his departure just long enough to rest assured that Sakura made it through the delivery safely. It had been hard without him, even impossible at times. But they'd managed, and Sakura had kept her promise to wait for his return or confirmation of his death. And Sasori, for his part, kept his promise to return to them.

He'd never been the type to make promises for as long as she'd known him. It was what had nearly driven them apart a number of times in the past, but the fact that he was here now told her more than words could ever say.

"Umph!"

Sakura immediately shot out of her chair at the sight of Sasori sprawled out on his back and clutching his abused abdomen. Shocked green eyes found her daughter, who retracted her fist just then. Sasori coughed, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to will the pain to subside. Sakura was about to yell at their daughter when the most unexpected thing happened.

Chisaki flung herself at Sasori and threw her short arms around his neck.

"Chisaki," Sakura said, immediately appearing next to the pair.

"I win!"

Sasori sucked in a labored breath and opened his eyes. Sakura held his gaze for a moment, but it was apparent that Chisaki wasn't going to let go. Sasori raised his free hand up, hesitated a moment, then awkwardly rested it on his daughter's back. Sakura suddenly felt the urge to cry.

"I see...you have your mother's brute strength," Sasori wheezed.

"I think you deserved that one though," Sakura said, wiping her eyes.

Sasori smirked and moved his hand up to twirl a lock of Chisaki's hair. The little girl pulled back and smiled brightly.

"Sasowee," she said.

"You can call him 'Daddy'," Sakura said, placing a hand on the girl's head.

Chisaki frowned at her mother briefly before turning back to Sasori. "Daddy Sasowee?"

Never in all the years she'd known him, in all that they'd been through, had Sakura ever seen Akasuna no Sasori blush.

"I'm..."

Chisaki was oblivious to his discomfort. Instead she pulled away to retrieve the discarded penguin plushie to try the puppet technique again now that she was done imitating Sakura's outburst from the previous night.

"Hey," Sakura said, putting a hand on Sasori's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

The blush was gone, replaced by his trademark stony facade. In spite of this, his eyes remained trained on the small child molding chakra a few feet away. Sakura suddenly grew serious as she studied this man that had somehow become so precious to her. She knew what he was doing; he'd tried it with her too. But she didn't stand for it then, and she wasn't about to stand for it now.

"Sasori," she said, directing him to look at her with a gentle hand. "You're her father. Nothing can change that. I won't let it."

"Sakura, I don't..." His eyes adopted a faraway look as memories, no doubt ones of his own ruptured childhood, clouded his mind.

"Stop," she said, shaking her head. "You're here. You kept your promise to me." She turned to steal a glance at their daughter, who was giggling as she attempted to dance along with her newly animated stuffed animal. "To her. That will always be enough."

Once, the first time she'd told him that she loved him just before he left her, he looked a bit like a lost child who'd just seen the sun for the first time after years of darkness. It broke her heart and mended it all at the same time, then and now. Without thinking, Sakura pressed a soft kiss to his mouth, hoping that he would believe the sincerity of her words.

When she pulled away, he instinctively sought to follow her and prolong the contact, but the injury Chisaki had given him earlier prevented much movement. He hissed, and Sakura smirked.

"Here," she said, pressing a glowing green hand to his abdomen.

The sounds of the crackling fire and Chisaki swinging her little puppet around filled the small cabin. Sasori watched his daughter with quiet pride. She would be strong one day, just like her mother.

"Sakura."

"Hm?" She looked up to catch him staring at their daughter.

"I want you to teach her everything you know about medical ninjutsu."

Sakura finished her healing and gave him her full attention.

"I want..." He seemed to struggle with the right words. "I want her to be able to heal, not just hurt."

_Not like me._

"Okay," Sakura said, turning to watch Chisaki getting the hang of the puppet technique. "I promise."


	4. NaruIno

True Love Is…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"True love is growing up."

Pairing: NaruIno

**Story Notes: **This was requested anonymously, and it's become a new favorite ship for me. Everyone go check out the amazing fanart by Chii for this chapter (link in my profile under the Update section). She is a beautiful artist, wow. Happy holidays! Enjoy this newest installment!

* * *

As children, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto lived in two very different worlds. She was the class ace, the perfect balance of delicate femininity and powerhouse potential. He was the class clown, the unfortunate combination of persistent prankster and tenacious moron. At opposite ends of the spectrum, they had little reason to associate, much less become friends. But, as luck would have it, some things were simply meant to be.

"Huh? What's _she _doin' here? We can't bring a _girl _to do a man's job!" Naruto complained to Shikamaru.

Ino flushed red with anger at the other blonde's words. It wasn't like she _wanted_ to be here, but Chouji and Shikamaru had dragged her along, and she had nowhere else to be with Sakura on a family vacation besides. "Oh yeah?" She marched right up to Naruto and pointed her finger in face. "Anything boys can do, I can do better!"

Naruto blinked, momentarily stunned, before collecting his bearings and mirroring' Ino's peeved expression. "Prove it! Prove you're man enough to play with the big boys!"

Not one to back down in the face of a challenge, especially from some _boy_, of all people, Ino crossed her little arms and turned up her nose. "Fine! You and me, Naruto. But don't cry when I win."

Shikamaru pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I knew this would be a bad idea."

"Nah, it'll be fun! Ino's tough!" Chouji said with a smile.

Kiba, who'd been ignoring everyone in favor of scratching Akamaru's belly, suddenly perked up. "Hey! I got it! Aw man, this is gonna be so good!"

"What, what?" Naruto said, turning to the other boy.

Kiba snickered, clearly pleased with himself as he wallowed in the self-satisfaction that came with conjuring up a new best prank ever. Motioning to their group of co-conspirators, Kiba gathered everyone into a huddle. Ino looked none too pleased about being squished between a bunch of grimy boys, but she held her tongue. She had a prank to pull off better than Naruto, after all.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do..."

Kiba launched into an explanation of his brilliant idea, and halfway through Ino gasped.

"No way! There's _no way_ we can do something like that. We'll get in so much trouble!"

Naruto smirked, clearly having expected this kind of reaction from the class goody two shoes. "Whatsamatter? You scared?"

Predictably, Ino's face twisted into an expression of indignant female offense. "Nuh-uh! I just don't want to get in trouble, which we will if we go through with this dumb idea."

"You only get in trouble if you get caught," Kiba said sagely, and Akamaru barked for good measure.

"So whaddaya say, Ino? Think you got what it takes to beat me and not get caught?" Naruto goaded.

Ino looked between Kiba and Naruto, grinning like idiots, Chouji, who was nodding encouragingly, and finally Shikamaru giving her the evil eye. Never let it be said that Yamanaka Ino was one to shy away from a good challenge, especially when it meant beating a boy at as his own game. "I'm in."

"Oh no," Shikamaru lamented.

"All right!" Chouji cheered.

"Sweet! Let the prank begin!" Kiba said triumphantly.

And that was how Ino found herself squashed uncomfortably next to Naruto half an hour later on the roof of a grocery store baking under the summer sun. And _man_ did Naruto sweat a lot.

"You stink," she said.

"Heh, speak for yourself," he shot back. "Move the bucket to the right a little more."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me what to do." She moved the bucket as per his instructions anyway.

A few minutes passed as the pair peeked wide blue eyes over the edge of the scaffolding, searching through the small crowd of passersby below. Kiba and Chouji were strategically positioned below for distraction purposes when the target arrived, while Shikamaru was tasked with keeping a lookout for said target. Of course, Ino knew that meant he was probably shirking his responsibilities and staring into space instead of paying attention. Hence her feeling the need to keep a strict lookout of her own. Really, boys were so unreliable.

"Hey, there he is!" Naruto hissed, scooting forward a little.

Ino peered in the direction he was indicating, but shoved him hard when she saw his folly. "That's a _girl, _idiot. And she looks way older than him, anyway."

"Huh? You sure?" Naruto squinted through his unruly bangs for a better look, but relented after a moment. "Oh, yeah she's definitely wearing a dress. Haha, my bad!"

"Seriously," Ino grumbled.

More uneventful waiting passed, and Ino caught an unfortunate whiff something fierce on a wayward breeze. "Ugh, what _is _that?"

"My special sauce," Naruto said, grinning.

"Ew, I'm sorry I asked," she said, scooting farther away from the bucket.

Unfortunately, putting distance between the bucket and herself meant encroaching on Naruto's side of the narrow roof space.

"Hey! Stop hoggin' the roof, Ino!"

"I'm not hogging anything! You're the one who picked this stupid roof in the first place—"

She was promptly cut off from further squawking when Naruto's hand clamped over her mouth. "Shh! I just got the high-sign from Kiba. That's him, that's him!"

Ino immediately forgot her annoyance as the moment of truth approached. Suddenly, she and Naruto became deathly serious as they prepared for this prank to end all pranks that would go down in Academy history. And she would prove that even in this, class priss could let loose and have a little fun.

"Ready? On my count," Naruto whispered.

"Hey, why should you get to count?" Ino countered, even as she prepared the string that would send their prank straight to the history books.

"Fine, we'll both count. Happy?" he relented, blue eyes trained on their fast approaching target.

"One," Ino said.

"Two," Naruto added, scooting forward as two sets of increasingly widening blue eyes followed the head of their unsuspecting target.

"Three!" Ino squealed.

They pushed the bucked over the edge, spilling its sticky, putrid contents into the bustling crowd below. Ino gasped and Naruto burst out laughing as the unfortunate target shrieked and looked up to see them through the muck running down his face.

"What the—_Yamanaka Ino?!"_

"Oh my god," Ino breathed, pale.

"Oh my _god! _We got him good!" Naruto whooped.

"Naruto!" She punched him in the shoulder. "That's not Neji. It's his uncle, Hiashi. As in, the head of the Hyuuga Clan!"

Naruto stopped his personal victory dance and blinked, confused. "The Hyuuga Clan?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!" a very livid, not to mention rancid, Hiashi shouted, pointing up at the pair. "Get down here this instant! Both of you!"

"Oh crap!" Naruto said, scrambling to his feet.

Ino was right behind him, the fear of death coursing through her at the thought of Hyuuga Hiashi out for her blood. Her father was going to _kill _her when he found out.

"Come on, let's get outta here!" Naruto said, not waiting for Ino's response and simply grabbing her hand and yanking her along.

"Hey!" she shouted, but Naruto had already led them to the other side of the roof to the fire escape, where they made a hasty retreat to a back alley.

Unfortunately, Hyuuga Hiashi was a Jounin and in possession of the Byakugan, so they were kind of screwed.

"Stop! You're both in a world of trouble!" he shouted as he rounded the alley to their location, mysterious ooze dripping off him.

"I don't think so. Ino, run!" Naruto said, dragging her along.

"W-What about the others—?"

"Who cares! I don't wanna die yet!"

Ino was a good kunoichi with good grades and good friends and good parents. She was an example to her classmates and peers of how a good girl should act. But as she found herself being pulled along by Naruto at high speed through the winding back alleys of Konoha she'd never known existed, much less would ever be able to navigate alone, she decided that right now she'd rather run for her life than face the consequences of their prank like a good girl should.

After running for what seemed like miles and suffering a few scrapes and trips here and there, Naruto finally led them to what looked like a deserted street under the awning of a pharmacy. They stopped to catch their breaths and calm their racing nerves.

"That...was way...too close," Ino panted.

"Yeah," Naruto said between labored breaths, looking back the way they came to make sure they'd really lost the irate Hyuuga Clan leader. "But man, did you see his face? He was so pissed!"

"Yeah, I got that part," Ino grumbled, righting herself. "Oh man, I'm gonna be in so much trouble."

"Pssh, whatever! We didn't get caught, so who cares?" Naruto said, folding his arms behind his head in a casual stance. "Besides, I think this was way better than pranking Neji. That guy's gonna have to go to his big meetings smelling like my socks!"

In spite of herself, Ino could not help but laugh. And not just any laugh; this was the kind of laugh that made her sides ache and lose her balance, the kind that brought tears to her eyes. Naruto laughed with her, and they sank to the ground together gasping for breath all over again.

"He's gonna smell like that for a week!" Ino managed between mindless giggles.

"Oh man, he might have to cut his stinky hair off!" Naruto wheezed.

They calmed down after a while and settled for smiling contentedly at each other, basking in the aftermath of what was undoubtedly the most hardcore prank ever pulled off in the history of Konoha.

"Hey, Ino."

"Yeah?"

"You're pretty cool. Uh, for a girl," he appended, embarrassed that he'd nearly put her on the same level as the men.

Ino narrowed suspicious blue eyes at her partner in crime. "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

Naruto backed up and lifted his hands in a placating gesture. "No, no, I just meant, uh... None of the other girls would ever pull a prank with me, so, well, I guess that makes you pretty cool?"

Ino had not been expecting the sincerity in his tone and she paused, looking him over for a moment. Her parents weren't like the others who told her to stay away from Naruto, that he was dangerous, but she'd heard from some of her friends that they weren't allowed to talk to him. After the past few hours spent together with the blonde boy, she didn't see what the big deal was.

She grinned. "I guess you're pretty cool too. For a class clown."

Naruto broke into a bright smile. "Eat your heart out."

"There you are!"

The blonde duo turned in fright at the sound of that voice. Sure enough, Hyuuga Hiashi had caught up to them and, to their mutual panic, had brought several members of his clan with him.

"Time to go!" Naruto said, reaching for Ino's hand.

They raced back into the maze of alleys, Hyuuga hot on their tails. And even though Ino knew in the back of her mind that she'd be in the doghouse for the rest of her life after this, she couldn't help but laugh and laugh as they jumped and dodged the angry adults.

* * *

As teenagers, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto were the unfortunate victims of a war quickly spinning out of control. But before everything went to hell and their friends and family began to die all around them, there was a brief celebration for the demon who'd saved the village.

"Naruto!" Ino shouted through the crowd of villagers.

He turned left and right, trying to pinpoint the familiar feminine voice among the sea of strangers-turned-supporters in the wake of his defeat of Pein. With Konoha decimated, the villagers were left to rebuild from the ground up. But even in such trying times of scarcity, they found time to lay down their shovels and hammers and be thankful that they were all alive and together. Tonight was the first celebration for shinobi and civilians alike to mingle and relax and finally be happy, if only for a few hours.

"Ino?" the blonde Jinchuuriki said, incredulous. "Wow, is that really you?"

Ino drew up to him, her simple violet sundress fluttering behind her as she came to a stop. "Gee, don't look so disappointed to see me."

He immediately adopted a deer in the headlights look and scrambled to placate her. "No, no! That's not what I meant, haha! I, uh, it's just—"

He abruptly cut himself off when she flung herself bodily against him in a surprisingly crushing hug. "Hey..."

"Thank you, Naruto," she said softly.

Naruto smiled sadly and returned the embrace, knowing that his victory was a bittersweet one. Nagato hadn't really been the enemy, simply misguided. It still bothered him to think that someone with such similar ideals could have strayed so far down the wrong path.

Ino pulled away and, where he was sure he'd see tears, instead she was smiling brilliantly as though the sight of him were the best thing she'd seen in months. "Come on! Let's go get some drinks and have fun. You haven't been back for so long!"

"Uh, okay," he said, a little dazed.

He and Ino had always been friends since they were kids, but she'd been closer to Sakura than to him. With his solo training with Jiraiya and later at Mt. Myoboku, Naruto hadn't had much time to spend with the rest of the Konoha 11 other than Sakura. Ever since Sasuke had left, things were never the same.

But he followed her without complaint, letting her pull him along by the hand away from the stiff Konoha Elders who wanted to talk politics and empty formalities in the wake of his victory, away from the scornful eyes of those who'd never learned to accept him as anything other than a monster now forced to interact with him or face public disdain. As though a an impenetrable shield had formed around him, Naruto gripped Ino's hand firmly in his own and let her lead him to wherever her heart desired. As it turned out, her heart desired a drink.

"It's a party, after all," she said, smirking as she handed him a beer.

Naruto grinned, relaxing slightly. "Yeah, I guess it is."

He savored the crisp, cool flavor of the drink as the sounds of the crowd around him faded into the background and the exhaustion finally caught up to him. It felt good to have a moment of peace and feel the weight of his accomplishment, heavy and painful as the fight to win it.

"You okay?" Ino asked, studying him carefully.

Naruto looked up at her, startled. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Just...tired, I guess."

She watched him for a moment longer before smiling a little. "Sakura volunteered to watch over Lady Tsunade tonight so Shizune could take a break. But Shikamaru and the others are probably waiting for us at the buffet so—"

"No, it's okay. It's not... I know Sakura's busy, it's just..." he trailed off, looking down to hide the sudden disappointment.

Ino waited for him to finish his thought, but it never came. It was just what? He'd loved Sakura for as long as he could remember, but she'd never loved him. At least, not as more than a teammate and dear friend. He'd hated that for so long. He'd even resented Sasuke for stealing her love, like it was some material prize that could be owned by another person.

_Idiot._

Naruto ran a hand through his unruly blonde hair, wishing this would just stop. He hadn't thought about this all night, not for days, months even. Not with the calamity of Akatuski and Jiraiya's death and Pein and suddenly becoming a hero.

_Like I had any choice in the matter._

Was this the price of the recognition he craved? And at the end of the day, he still didn't get the girl.

"I'm fine," he said finally, masking his inner turmoil the only way he knew how—with a hundred watt smile.

Ino stared at him for a moment, expression blank. She didn't know Naruto like Sakura did. Maybe she never would. But she did know a liar when she saw one. Quiet down enough, and it was easy to pick out the things people whispered to themselves when they thought no one was listening.

"No, you're not."

Naruto's smile faltered. "...What?"

"You're not fine," she repeated, narrowing her eyes as she confirmed the hypothesis. "And you look like shit. Have you even slept since the fight?"

_How...?_

"Bullshit. You wish you looked half as good as me," he said, hiding his bewilderment behind a smirk.

Ino rolled her eyes. "All these years and you're still as dense as a doorknob sometimes."

"Hey!"

"Come on," she said, ignoring his outburst and taking his hand again to lead him out of the crowd. "Change of plans."

"Where are we—"

"Hurry up!"

She dragged him out of the tent and broke into a run, drinks forgotten as she tore through the razed village and Naruto dashed after her. They ran and ran, and at some point she started laughing and he couldn't help but laugh with her, previous troubles left behind in their mad dash. It became a game as they raced to the ends of the destroyed village, up a hill, and finally to the edge of the treeline. They skidded to a halt, out of breath and panting, but from exertion or laughter he couldn't tell.

"You're," Ino panted. "You're...so slow!"

"You...had a head...start!"

Ino crossed her arms in an attempt to make herself look more put together and mature. "No way. You're like, the strongest ninja for miles, and I just beat you!"

"What!" Naruto pulled himself up and jutted his lower lip out from years of habit. "That's such crap! And you cheated!"

Ino smiled then, completely out of the blue, and Naruto was once again thrown for a loop. "Feel any better?"

Naruto blinked at her, taking in her tousled appearance. Only just now did he notice that her hair was down, out of its customary ponytail. Decked in a soft purple that brought her eyes and flushed cheeks, he let himself think that Yamanaka Ino was pretty.

Very pretty.

"Yeah, I guess," he said, suddenly feeling embarrassed about this thought. This was Sakura's best friend and _what the hell?_

She peered at him suspiciously, and he wondered if he was really that bad at masking his emotions. He'd never been as good at it as Sasuke had been.

"You've been weird since you came back from facing Pein's true form," she said. "I thought you'd be happy you won. Everyone else is."

Naruto frowned. "I'm happy everyone's safe, it's just..." He paused, trying to search for the right words. "I'm not... I don't know how—"

"Stop," Ino cut him off. "I can see for myself, if you let me."

"Huh?"

"Like this." She performed a few practiced hand seals and promptly rested her open palm atop his head.

"Ino, what's—"

Naruto never finished his thought as images of the conversation he'd had with Nagato came rushing back, as though he was watching a recording of the incident. All over again, he felt himself coming to the realization that "good" and "evil" are never absolute, that he was never the golden boy and Nagato was never the filth he'd thought he was purging for the good of everyone. They were the same, two sides of the same coin. Konan was there, and suddenly Nagato was coughing up blood as his body gave out in the wake of the Shinra Tensei. Watching him die all over again felt like a punch to the gut.

The tears he'd cried then returned to him now as Ino's chakra left him and Nagato's memory with it.

"What was that?" he said, trying to wipe away his tears. "What did you do?"

Gentle hands found his, tugging gently and exposing his tear-stained face under the light of the moon. When they locked eyes, Naruto thought for a moment he was seeing Sakura.

But she wasn't Sakura.

"I'm so sorry," she said softly, "that you had to be the one to defeat him."

It was a rare situation that could render Uzumaki Naruto speechless, but she'd done it almost effortlessly. Blue eyes softened behind unshed tears as he watched her. No, she wasn't Sakura, but that was okay. She was here with him, listening, and that was more than he could have asked for.

"Thanks, Ino. I...needed to hear that."

Months later, when Obito and Madara were finally eliminated and Naruto trudged back to what was left of Konoha with only about half the comrades he'd left to fight with, he finally understood something of the ways of men. People grow, change, twist and mend and break all over again, leaving the scorned Madaras and the jaded Obitos of the world. But they also bloom and rise to the occasion, fighting and sacrificing for the greatest good of all—family, friends, and a peace Naruto would stake his life on to ensure.

So when Yamanaka Ino, who'd lost her father and her teacher and too many friends to name to Akatsuki's war for peace, greeted him with a bright smile on her face like she always did because she knew he needed others to smile when he no longer had the energy, Naruto decided that growing up wasn't just about loss and tragedy and rejection. They were a part of it, yes, but he would never have to go through them alone again.

If he could spend the rest of his days under the aegis of that smile, he would.

* * *

As adults, Yamanaka Ino and Uzumaki Naruto led fairly quiet lives when they weren't yelling over each other.

"You can't use this copy," Ino said, holding it out between thumb and forefinger as though afraid of contamination.

"Huh? Why not? I signed it, didn't I?" Naruto countered.

"You can't because you spilled ponzu all over it!"

"Bullshit. That looks like a pen exploded."

"Naruto, it _smells _like lunch. No way, you have to do it again."

"Seriously? That took me like four hours to finish! You're supposed to be helping me get through this paperwork more efficiently."

"I'm _trying_, but you just had to have your lunch delivered when Sakura specifically told you it was a bad idea. This is your own fault, _Lord Hokage."_

Naruto grinned and leaned close to Ino's face. "Say that again, nice and slow."

Ino sputtered and tried to push him away, but Naruto knew her trick and quickly trapped her between his arms. "This is _so _not the time, you pervert," she hissed.

"Ooh, I like it when you talk dirty," he said, leaning in to kiss her.

She turned and he landed on her cheek, deflating slightly.

"Oh come on, Ino," he said, reaching up to release her ponytail. "I've been working all day—"

"Yeah, and do I need to remind you _why? _You promised you would get through everything so we can go—"

"I know, I know," he said, voice muffled and warm against her now loose hair. "I promised, so I'll finish."

Ino relaxed and smiled a little, bringing a hand up and around his neck. He sensed her relenting and pulled back to look her in the eye. "So how about a short break? This office is soundproofed, you know."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Nice try. Get back to work. There will be plenty of time for that later."

"Aw, just a quick break?"

Ino was about to reject him again, but suddenly thought better of it and kissed him instead. Naruto was taken completely by surprise at her sudden change of heart and tried to deepen the kiss, but she pulled back after a moment.

"You can have the rest when you're done."

Naruto's mouth fell open in mock outrage. "Are you _trying _to give me blue balls?"

Ino smirked and patted his shoulder. "I'll see you later. You better not be late."

He sank back into his wide chair, pouting like a schoolboy. "Yeah yeah, I'll be there. Jeez."

It took the better part of the night and Shikamaru's and Shizune's help, but somehow the Sixth Hokage was able to get through all the outstanding contracts, visas, and mission requests for that week. After a short power nap and a shower, followed by enough food to feed a small family, Naruto was changed and ready to go. He stood before a full-length mirror, a frown on his face as he tried to get comfortable in the formal Hokage attire. Honestly, he thought it was a bit much for the occasion. It wasn't like Ino would _care—_

"Are you ready to go?"

Naruto caught Sai's reflection in the mirror, his usual fake smile plastered in place and looking completely ridiculous in a formal black dress suit. Naruto snickered against his better judgement. "You look like a butler."

"And you look like a girl in that dress," Sai replied easily.

Naruto's expression immediately soured. "You know, this one day you could try not being an asshole."

"I could," Sai agreed, though Naruto suspected he wouldn't actually go through with it.

"So how does she look?" Naruto asked as they made their way outside.

Sai thought about this for a minute before saying, "Better than you do. Maybe less girly, actually."

The remainder of their walk took barely any time at all as Sai took off at a run and Naruto chased him, Rasengan blazing blue and bright. Needless to say, Sakura was not pleased to see the Hokage playing a game of chase with a high-ranking ANBU on a day like this.

"Get up there and shut up," she hissed, nudging him toward the gazebo. "I'll handle Sai."

Naruto grinned. "Thanks, Sakura. You're the best!"

"Tell me something I don't know. Now hurry up, the music's starting."

Naruto blinked and turned to see the largest crowd he'd ever seen gathered together in neat rows of white painted chairs. The daimyo of the great countries had travelled from afar to be here for this momentous occasion. Mifune and some of his samurai guards even made the trip from the snowy Land of Iron, and Naruto thought it was strange to see them dressed for warm weather. The Mizukage, Tsuchikage, and Raikage and their entourages sat together, but at Naruto's insistence Gaara and his siblings were ensconced between the remaining members of the Konoha 11. It was only appropriate, Naruto had argued against the formalities Gaara generally insisted upon, that the Sand siblings be treated the way any of his closest friends ought to be. Naruto remembered that he hadn't seen Gaara look so happy since the day Chiyo brought him back to life.

Lee gave Naruto a thumbs-up from his place next to Tenten, and Kiba shot him a cheesy grin. It meant so much to have them all here for his big day, but looking at them all Naruto couldn't help but think on the faces of the ones who weren't. They were gone, but he wouldn't forget them. Not a single one.

The music picked up and everyone turned away from Naruto. Gripping his oversized Hokage hat between his fingers, Naruto squinted beyond the crowd and suddenly became quite nervous. In a swath of white and gold, Ino appeared in the distance and glided toward the gazebo. All thoughts of not getting enough sleep and the many pairs of eyes gawking at him vanished as the sight of her snatched his attention. She had a knack for that, he reflected. It had always been hard to ignore her, not that he'd ever much tried.

She was before him in an instant, blue eyes alight with the smile he'd fallen in love with longer ago than he probably knew. "Hi."

Against his better judgment, Naruto blushed like a tomato, the weight of _this _suddenly hitting him like a hailstorm. "I..."

In his nervousness, he dropped his hat with muffled _thud_ as it hit the grass beneath them. A few laughs resounded, as well as a "go get 'em, tiger!" from somewhere in the Kumo section. Ino picked up his hat without hesitation.

"Clumsy idiot," she said, laughter on her lips. Before he could even remember to breathe, she placed the hat on his head, adjusting the back veil to fall neatly upon his shoulders. When she finished Naruto found his voice.

"You're beautiful."

Ino smiled and took his hand. "You clean up pretty good too, Lord Hokage."

A goofy grin made its way onto Naruto's face, and he decided right then and there that having to finish all his work before this was totally worth it.

"Lord Hokage, shall we begin?" said the visiting monk from the Fire Temple.

"Hell yeah," Naruto said a little too loudly.

The ceremony went by quickly, and Naruto barely heard a word the bald guy in the frumpy robe said; he was too distracted by the woman standing next to him who'd actually agreed to all this.

_I'm the luckiest son of a bitch this side of Wind Country._

He squeezed Ino's hand, heavy with the shiny new ring he'd surprised her with. The memory made him chuckle. They'd been planting a fresh batch of petunias. Naruto didn't know much about gardening, but he loved how simple and relaxing it was. After everything that had happened in his teenage years, he found he was happy with some peace and quiet whenever he could get his hands on it. Needless to say, the petunia planting was cut short with the onslaught of rain, Ino's colorfully vented frustrations with the weather, and Naruto's subsequent instigation of a mud fight. She'd resisted at first, as she always did, but eventually she got serious and dragged him through the dirt, literally. Filthy and surrounded by ruined petunias and fertilizer, Naruto fished out the ring he'd been carrying around for weeks and asked her to marry him right then and there.

Her shocked silence made him second guess this rash proposal and start to apologize, but she kissed him through the rain and mud and he finally shut up.

Ino turned to look at him but she didn't squeeze his hand back. To Naruto's sudden worry, she had tears in her eyes.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered. He knew he shouldn't have relaxed so soon. She could still reneg on this whole deal—

"It's just..." she whispered, so softly not even the monk had noticed.

"What?"

Icy blue meet cerulean, and Naruto saw the anguish wracking at her soul there. "I...I wish my dad could have been here."

Time seemed to stop as memories of that awful day flashed before Naruto's eyes. To the very end, Inoichi had done everything he could to save the shinobi alliance, and Ino had fought on bravely in the face of her tragic loss. Swallowing hard, Naruto realized there was probably nothing he could ever say or do to make that up to her.

Forgetting the ceremony and the thoughts of their onlookers, he pulled her to him in a fierce hug without warning. His hat came loose and toppled to the ground again, but he didn't care.

"Naruto," she said against his shoulder, clearly worried about this disruption in the ceremony.

"He's here," Naruto whispered. "They all are. Can't you see them?"

For a moment, as the breeze tickled the flowers in Ino's hair and she looked at the many smiling faces here for them, she almost could.

She pulled back and looked him in the eye, and in that moment Naruto wondered if this is what she'd always looked like, raw and rending and beautiful, and he'd been a fool never to see it all those years ago.

She managed a small laugh, a sad, tinkling sound, before saying, "I don't deserve you."

"Sure you do. Know why?"

"Why?"

Naruto leaned in close until their foreheads touched. "My mom would have loved you."

Amazingly, the rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch until Oonoki shouted for Naruto to kiss the bride already, and he wasn't getting any younger. The Hokage didn't need to be told twice as he swept his new wife off her feet in a show of bravado she outwardly disdained but secretly loved.

When Sakura commented hours later at the reception party, amidst the drunken cheering as Kakashi and Darui attempted to entertain the guests with a grandiose display of colorful electric fireworks, that she'd never expected Yamanaka Ino to fall for Uzumaki Naruto, Ino just laughed.

"You're telling _me."_

"So what happened? I mean, I think I know better than most people what a great guy Naruto is, but we were on a team together."

Ino nodded, pensive. "I guess... He's always been that one person to lift everyone else up on his shoulders, you know? And after that fight with Pein, I just wondered, who's lifting him up?"

Sakura watched her best friend quietly, inwardly stunned that things had turned out like this, but suddenly not surprised.

Ino smirked suddenly. "Or maybe it was Hiashi's hair that brought us together."

Sakura burst out laughing, recalling that particular incident from their childhood in which she'd been completely amazed at Ino's audacity, consequences be damned. If she remembered correctly, Ino had been forced to deliver a formal apology to the Hyuuga clan and clean the flower shop for a month as punishment. But it had been worth it, the blonde insisted.

"I'm happy for you," Sakura said finally. "I really am."

"Thanks, Forehead," Ino said.

In the distance, Naruto was gesticulating wildly to Oonoki and A while Konohamaru looked on, shaking his head. After more vigorous hand movements, Konohamaru slumped and finally _poof_ed. A cloud of smoke cleared and a scantily clad woman stood where Konohamaru had been seconds before. Oonoki and A nearly tripped over each other, but Mei appeared suddenly and punched "Konohamaru" clear across the room, where he immediately transformed back into his (now bruised) self. Naruto laughed wildly and Mei turned a poisonous glare on him.

Ino watched the scene unfold, a faraway look in her eyes. Laughing lightly she said, "I'm really happy."


End file.
